Although it divides arranging duties among Neal Hefti, Sid Bass, and George Siravo, Gisele MacKenzie’s Vik label debut is a surprisingly cohesive listen — despite the diversity of the album’s stylistic approaches, all of the songs make certain to feature MacKenzie’s crystalline vocals in the best possible light. While the material draws largely on familiar romantic ballads like “Everytime We Say Goodbye” and “These Foolish Things,” the arrangements are consistently fresh and engaging, buoyed by a jazz-inspired energy often absent from MacKenzie’s recordings. Taken as a whole, the album captures in full the singer’s impressively broad range, suggesting myriad creative avenues that subsequent albums failed to fully explore. – Jason Ankeny
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